


Close.

by jantotrash



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Dancing, Episode: s02e09 Something Borrowed, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-27
Updated: 2017-05-27
Packaged: 2018-11-05 10:06:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11011230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jantotrash/pseuds/jantotrash
Summary: Jack and Ianto dance.





	Close.

**Author's Note:**

> This goes from Ianto's point of view to Jack's point of view. This is for Sunday's we-are-torchwood EC/DD celebration's prompt (Dancing)!

From Ianto's perspective:

 

Jack and Gwen were dancing together.  Ianto was feeling an awful lot like a third wheel.

 

He knew Jack wasn't interested in Gwen.  At the very least, that's  what he hoped.

 

God.  What was he thinking?  She was married.  She had Rhys.  And Gwen wouldn't cheat.

 

Well, that thought didn't help much.

 

Anyway, he was pretty sure whatever "they" were was monogamous.  Wasn't it?

 

They were dating...right?  They'd kissed and shagged more times than Ianto could count.  And they'd been on several dates.  Ianto felt close to him, but not like he'd ever felt close to anyone else before.  This, whatever this was, was somehow deeper.  Deeper than being with Lisa.  But at the same time, Jack did things like this and threw him into suspense.  Jack couldn't feel the same about him.

 

As it turns out, this train of thought was not very reassuring.  He downed a drink.

 

He watched the two dance, lost in thought, trying to tell himself what this was and wasn't.

 

Maybe he had to stop comparing Jack to Lisa.  Jack was different in so many ways.  Perhaps that was the problem.  Lisa was wonderful.  But their relationship was traditional, defined, stable.  And Jack, Jack was none of those things.  How could Ianto expect to have the same relationship with Jack as he had with Lisa?

 

Of course that would be the problem; it seemed obvious now.  Ianto was hurting after Lisa and he got with Jack.  To heal.  And now that he'd healed, with Jack, he was still clutching to the past.  But that didn't mean it didn't hurt when Jack flirted with other people.  He needed to adapt, but he also needed Jack to tell him what this was.

 

Jack and Gwen's conversation seemed to end and Ianto had reached a decision.

 

He was going to dance with Jack, and no one was going to stop him.  He didn't care about his coworkers and what they thought anymore.  They were going to dance.

 

A tunnel seemed to form between him and Jack, giving Ianto no choice but to make a beeline toward him.  Jack and Gwen were just staring into each other's eyes now.  Something bubbled inside him.

 

"May I...er…"  Ianto said awkwardly, clearing his throat.   He winced inwardly as they separated.  Ianto smiled a tight smile.

 

"Yes." she said.

 

Gwen, assuming Ianto wanted to dance with her, offered her arms, but Ianto turned to Jack.  She clapped her hands together and Ianto moved to Jack.

 

Jack rolled his eyes, but smiled.  Ianto pulled himself into Jack until they were as close as they could possibly be in the circumstances.  They were dancing.  And he didn't care that everyone was probably staring at them.  There was no way he could care less.  Being with Jack right now mattered so much more.

 

Ianto let go of the past, let go of Lisa's standards.  Let go of how he was supposed to feel and simply felt.

 

He felt Jack's head turn away for a moment, but it returned quickly.  It still left Ianto with a bad taste in his mouth.  Ianto stared down at his shoulder.

 

_Jack, I'm sorry for assuming you were something you aren't._

 

_Am I something to you?_

 

_Show me how you feel._

 

_Please tell me you love me._

 

\--

 

From Jack's perspective:

 

He was dancing with Gwen.  People did that with friends.  And that's what they were.  Of course that's what they were, Jack had Ianto and Gwen had Rhys.

 

The conversation drifted to what he'd do without Gwen. 

 

"Pizza, Ianto." he quipped.  She laughed.  God, Ianto.  His thoughts drifted for a second.

 

"Save the world a couple of times."

 

"Will you miss me?"  she asked.  Of course.

 

"Always.  Rhys is a lucky man, a perfect husband.  He's loyal, brave.  He's got a hell of a swing on him," they looked into each other's eyes,  "and best of all, he really loves you."

 

"I know."  she said with a small nod.

 

They shared a moment.  Gwen looked into his eyes, almost with a longing.  The world faded away.

 

Rhys would be good for her.  He'd keep her grounded in reality, and that's what she needed.  Torchwood was a horrible place to work.  Employees that had someone else, something else, outside of work did much better.  Well, except Ianto.  He was brilliant all the time, and all he had was Jack.  And Jack wasn't very good to him all the time.

 

Ianto's voice floated through his consciousness.  "May I...er…"

 

After a second, Jack and Gwen separated.

 

"Yes." she said, preparing to dance.  But at the last minute of his approach, Ianto turned to face Jack.

 

He rolled his eyes a little, but smiled at Ianto.  He was honestly quite shocked Ianto was doing this.  They hadn't revealed the fact they were in a relationship to their coworkers, much less the whole of Gwen and Rhys' family and friends.  This didn't quite seem like an Ianto thing to do.  But Jack was glad of the chance to be with him.

 

They were suddenly close, so close together.  Jack opened his mouth to speak, but closed it after thinking it over.

 

A quick head turn to check on Gwen and Rhys.  They were perfect together.  They had their lives ahead of them.

 

Jack wanted to pull him closer.  He wanted them to be closer than they'd ever, ever been.  He wanted that so badly, but the moment was lost in the hotel.  So he settled for feeling Ianto's back and feeling Ianto's hand on his own back.  For holding his other hand.  For feeling his breath on his shoulder.

 

He came to the realization that this was the person he loved for the first time.  Jack knew what many forms of love felt like, but the love he felt for Ianto was a little different.  Perhaps that's why he didn't catch it at first.  How could that be?  On a fundamental level, Ianto was no different from other people he'd loved.  But he was, very different.  Ianto wasn't simple in any form of the word.

 

But he couldn't get too close to Ianto.  Something would eventually happen, and Jack would lose him.  It was inevitable.

 

_I want to be with you forever._

 

_I know this can never last forever._

 

_How will I ever live without you?_

 

_I am in love with you._


End file.
